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West
Regional Report
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Edited by Sarah Bruner
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The Jackmormons You know, I am a incredibly lucky person. I have a great family, two wonderful children and an intelligent and caring wife who are the apples of my eye. I have been bless with many warm and generous friends who make life interesting. I live in a town that has pretty good schools with lots of parental involvement (am I a parent or what?) and it is one with a vibrant and lively arts community. And the really great thing about this is that I really know how lucky I am and thank my lucky stars (what else?) almost every day. Which hopefully keeps the opening statement from being one of hubris. One of the side benefits of being so lucky is that I occasionally get to see great bands like The Jackmormons. Which I did Thursday night at the Tractor Tavern in Seattle. And, as luck would have it, it was, of course, a great show and considering all the problems I had getting to their last show, this one was a breeze. Originally, I was going to take two friends from Olympia and meet others a the show. However, due to the fact the show was on a Thursday night and sickness, I ended up going to the show with my taping friend Bob and meeting another friend at the show. Bob came over shortly after 7:00pm we had a cup of tea and chatted for a bit, climbed into his tricked out van and headed north. Though it rained off and on most of the way up to Seattle, we were also followed by a rainbow most of time. Clearly a good sign, because we arrived at the Tractor and immediately found a primo spot for Bob's van (not an easy task) and walked up to the door just as sound check was ending and the doors opened. As we waited to go in, up walked a taper friend of Bob's who was also going to tape the show. Cool, now we had redundancy to make sure a tape was made. We walked into the near empty room and picked out the perfect place to tape the show and began setting up equipment. Or I should say, I watched Bob and David begin setting up equipment, and they had a lot of it. Mic stands and wires everywhere. But they seemed to know what went where and it was fun to watch a couple of pros at work. Shortly thereafter, I walk up to the bar to get a beer and who should a find standing next to me, but Jerry Joseph, leader of the The Jackmormons. Feeling amiable, I walk up to him and ask for a request, Frost Heaves a song that I don't believe I had heard live yet and find really fun to listen to on tape. Jerry responded by saying that he didn't think they would play that tonight. He reasoning was that he had just gotten back from a month or so in Europe and had some new songs, one of which, My Little Tiger, he was planning on playing tonight and it was too similar to Frost Heaves in his mind to want to play them both. That was okay with me, hearing new songs is always a good thing and told him so. He smiled and I asked whether it was going to be one long set or two. He said one. Cool! More music. So I walked back to Bob and gave him my set information. Shortly thereafter the opening band, ThaMuseMent started. A band out of New Mexico, who have sort of String Cheese Incident-type thing going. Bass, drums guitar/banjo and mandolin/fiddle. They played an hour long set of very enjoyable music. However, I have to admit, they didn't change my world view or anything. Then shortly before The Jackmormons came on, my friend Tom showed up. I introduced him to Bob and they hit it off immediately, though, I think those two can hit it off with anyone, so I suppose that was a foregone conclusion. But it was nice to see. Before 11:00, The Jackmormons walked on stage. After a short tune up time, they began playing and that old familiar feeling settled in. There is nothing like being in the presence of musical greatness. Talk about your joy moments. You just have to grin and bear it! From the opening notes, I knew I was in for another great night. I won't go through the whole set list, but I will add a few notes. Of the two new songs, I enjoyed My Little Tiger much more than Cosmo Sex School. The former rocked, the latter left me a little befuddled. And for the record, I didn't notice too much familiarity between My Little Tiger and Frost Heaves. For those of you who get tapes from me (assuming they turn out), any thud, whap, oooohhh, heard during Disco Strangler is the result of some guy tripping over the mic stand and the response of the crowd around the mic. It will add some crowd ambience to the tapes. ;-) It is a mystery to me how Junior can have those almost angelic backup vocals, like in American Standard, when you consider how much he smokes. An eighth wonder of the world, I suppose. It was a very powerful Mountain Home. One of the best I have heard. I really enjoyed the Big Things->Come Together->Big Things because Jerry sings Come Together totally within the music of Big Things a totally different tune. Amazing how it works so well. Road to Damascus neither had an intro nor a coda. Hadn't heard one like that before. Changes the whole feeling of the song. What can I say? Frost Heaves was fantastic! I great way to end a set. Hearing a mandolin with the two song encore was a lot of fun. In conclusion I went home happy and feeling good about life. Can't wait to see them again. Setlist:
Ponticello
and The Big Wu Man oh man! Again i've been hit with massive deluges of beautiful and wonderful music! Every Wednesday night here in Portland there is an all-star funk jam going on, at "Jimmy Mak's" 300 NW 10th Ave., that sort of compares to M.M.W., Soulive or any other fine open free jam! Free jams are cool in how they are non-linear, webular, fractal. The troop that holds down this Wednesday night jam are Randy Monroe on bass, Doug Lewis on guitar, Ben Fowler on Saxophone, Andy Love on drums, Joey Porter on electric piano and Derek Simms on trumpet.. These guys play a smooth yet glorious jam, and then let guest musicians sit in on sets in-between, this session is a $1,000,000 ticket! I've been watching a lot of television lately, and feel like my mind has turned a bit mushy as compared to when I have been focusing most of my energy towards studying and reading, TV., truly is an opiate for the masses, and I hate to admit it, but I watch it. Another thing that i'd like to report on is the new "Jambands.com" radio station, on "radiosonic.net" internet radio, this shit is happening! Full length, high quality stereo sound, with the band, album, and songs listed, with a choice to skip forward if you want! Nice! I'm now able to hear many bands that I was curious about from reading reviews, and I have been trying to get their albums here, which is tough, "Soulive's", "Turn it out" is nowhere to be found in this town, yet I was lucky to find it for sale on "Velourmusic.com's" interesting web site. "Ponticello" is an eclectic three piece jam band from Seattle, consisting of Chris Murphy on electric Violin, Ted Kamp on bass and vocals, and Sean Shacklett on drums and percussion. These guys jam and make some beautiful music, their live show gets spontaneous and improvised at times, without losing the jam, that's how it was when I saw them at the "Mt. Tabor Pub" on April Fools Day opening for "The Big Wu". "Ponticello's" debut album "dark skies" has a good sample of their talent, but doesn't highlight their jam power. "dark skies" contains many songs filled with intense emotions, my favorite tunes on this album are the first one, "Heartbreak", which is a heavy in theme, but works well with the dissonant electric violin, and songs number three and four, "Shining Through", and "Long Hard Night" which are pleasing to the senses. "Ponicello" will be in New York City, and back East touring this April, check them out if you are able to. "The Big Wu" is a great band. "The Big Wu" know their licks, beats, harmonies, and poetry inside and out. When awesome bands like "The Big Wu", "Dark Star Orchestra", "Hot Tuna", or "Jimmy Cliff" come to town, I sometimes pull out the instant camera, and snap a few picks, yet this can affect my mood for the evening, I feel myself being more reserved and self conscious, when thinking about something other than the music, it removes me a bit from getting into a free relationship with the music. Because of this I decided to forgo the camera this evening, and just tried to relax, enjoy and experience the music of "The Big Wu" as fully as possible, and man, it was awesome! I was flying through the air during and after the show, these guys must have eaten fish burritos at "Dingo's Taco Bar" before the show, because they were dialed in and pushing it with delicious soul touching music all evening. I like to hypothesize on metaphysics, visualization, transubstantiation, yoga, dancing and music, and feel that Mt. Meru is with "The Big Wu"!. Hang Loose.
Karl
Denson's Tiny Universe Karl Denson's Tiny Universe continues to be one of the most talked about, and danced about, units in the live music scene today. Led by Karl Denson and his fire breathing saxophone, the band has earned a loyal following of late-night-hard-dancin' funksters. Throughout the band's existence, San Francisco has been a common stop on the their never ending tour(nado). Having played sold out venues in the city including Mick's Lounge, The Great American Music Hall, and the Warfield, the boys sold out yet one more, The Fillmore, for another night of horn driven boogie. With the newest addition of the band, trumpeter Ephraim Owens, adding his flavor to the chemistry, the band rewarded the audience with two very long sets of high energy, non-stop power funk. Throughout the night, the band displayed the qualities which set it above and apart from most of the field. In short, this is a band which never backs down from playing to its absolute farthest potential, for as long as any audience can hang with the pace (or as long and late as the venue will permit). In this particular case, the band played until somewhere around two in the morning (which by the way is as late as the venue would permit). And, this particular crowd seemed well prepared for the marathon groove session as most danced til the absolute very end. The Tiny Universe has developed a sound which satisfies the ears as well as the dancin' feet. The six men trade solos back and forth like a ping pong ball and continually maintain and push the tempo. And, this is a group whose smiles tell a story of how much they enjoy the hours on stage. Karl Denson, when he is not blowing gusts of souljazz through his mighty sax is just as guilty as anyone in the crowd of gettin' his shake on. When he is not shakin' his variety of toys, he's shakin' his tail about the stage with a grin that is too fitting for the man who sings "The music, the music, the music, is good for your soul". Where the Tiny Universe is headed remains to be determined. But, with performances like the one at the Fillmore being in the majority, it is clear that this band is headed towards greater success and popularity. As they sing, they are "shootin' for the stars in a whole lot of space," and for this group, the stars to shoot for seem endless.
The Big Wu: Home-grown Harmony They call it paying dues. For young bands like The Big Wu, it means heavy touring in the tiny and obscure clubs of America. Last Friday night the Minnesota group brought their grassroots sound to the shoebox-sized 14 Below in Santa Monica. Despite the apparent fatigue of six weeks on the road, as well as persistent technical problems with guitarist/vocalist Chris Castino's equipment, the band held together to satisfy the excited audience. The Santa Monica crowd was enthusiastic, and many were clearly tie-dyed-in-the-wool Big Wu fans, calling out songs and singing along while grooving singly or in rambunctious groups. The Big Wu's sound is laid-back and melodic, but can shift into harder-edged rock, much like Blues Traveler in their glory days. The live performance fulfilled the promise of the material from The Big Wu's excellent, but conservatively recorded, debut album "Tracking Buffalo through the Bathtub." The jam-rock genre calls for extended improvisation, and The Big Wu's explorations, while at times unfocused, did sound original - no small feat. The Big Wu so far have not mastered their psychedelic chops as fully as some of their brethren, but no matter; their strength is writing catchy songs with memorable melodies. Thanks to quality songwriting, hard work, and fate, The Big Wu are a band on the upswing. Their upbeat, boogie-friendly music is tied to a genre that is increasingly popular, and which supports a large pool of potential fans for new bands who can satisfy their hunger for long, adventuresome songs, positive vibrations and danceable rhythms. The Big Wu are clearly poised to win over the potentially fickle jam-rock crowd. The next step is for them to move out from the shadows of their influences and forge a sound all their own. With their knack for catchy, pop-inflected songs full of the psychedelic-jam spirit, The Big Wu are clearly on the path toward full membership in the pantheon of hippie-rock elite. Until the great gravy train of major-label music stops at The Big Wu's door, which many may hope never happens for fear of losing another great band to the corporate monster, the boys from Minnesota will have to stay out on the postage stamp-sized club stages and music festivals of America - paying their dues and earning their audience.
Old Dawgs, New Tricks The genesis of David Nelson's music lies in the 1960s, but his latest endeavor, the David Nelson Band (DNB), is bringing his brand of psychedelic country-rock out of the smoky past and into the vanguard of the modern jamband scene. Nelson's career has led through a series of bands ranging from the pre-Grateful Dead Wildwood Boys with the legendary Jerry Garcia, to seminal country-rockers New Riders of the Purple Sage. Nelson also later teamed up with Garcia for the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band. The sound Nelson helped to forge, a mix of rock, country, bluegrass and electric psychedelia, has influenced bands from the Eagles to the Dead themselves. Nelson appears on three of the Dead's most respected studio albums: "Aoxomoxoa," "Workingman's Dead," and "American Beauty." Unknown to much of the music-listening public, Nelson could easily have landed on the dust heap of discarded flower-power rockers, but the strength of his songs and the earnest, meaningful-but-fun-loving nature of the music he helped create have proved durable beyond the era that spawned them. And let's face it, the legions of maniacally devoted "Deadheads" who have embraced Nelson as one of their icons haven't hurt either. A ubiquitous characteristic of jambands - and a key to their relative independence from the commercial music industry and their mounting popularity - is the incessant touring that these bands undertake. Fans don't have to wait three years for DNB or their jam colleagues to drag some overblown, media-circus Rolling Stones-esque tour into the nearest mega-venue. Nelson and friends make the club and festival rounds regularly, playing to smaller but arguably more appreciative crowds. Last Friday, DNB appeared at Santa Monica's jamband haven, 14 Below. An appealing aspect of the jam scene, one wonderfully exemplified by Nelson and the boys, is the friendly atmosphere and lack of superstar pretensions. In the tiny 14 Below, the band is nearly on top of the audience, and there are no surly, yellow-jacketed security Nazis to put themselves between you and the musicians. In this cozy atmosphere, with an amiable crowd spanning several generations, including representatives of the Grateful Dead's extended family of associates, the band clearly felt comfortable, a feeling which set the tone for the evening. The first song, "Lonesome LA Cowboy," was a nod to the locale and Nelson's days with the New Riders. Punchy and wry, the tune started things off in the right direction, despite some early difficulties with the house sound. The band then moved into more adventuresome territory, stretching the music into loose, atmospheric improvisation. By "loose," I do not mean "sloppy." A defining characteristic of DNB is their ability to improvise and explore while still maintaining their center, still sounding like a tight unit. Here, the experience of the musicians is evident. Their control, their note choice and the capacity to shift focus and mood, without dropping the ball, are the result of good communication, and the unselfish understanding of artists who have learned to LISTEN. The strength and appeal of DNB comes not only from the talent and personalities of its members - nor does it depend on past successes - but from the new, original songs that have been created in DNB's six-year existence. Songs like "Kerouac" and "Sarasota Steamboat Farewell Lead-pipe Cinch" are worthy on their own merit. DNB's collaborations with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter lend a familiar-but-current flavor to the music. If their original music is the new blood of DNB, the classic songs of years past are its heart. A highlight of the night was a magnificent rendition of Bob Dylan's "Absolutely Sweet Marie." The song sparkled and jumped with delicious swing while Nelson, in his deep storyteller voice, told the tale. While some may be tempted to assign Nelson and his music to the "Used" bin as dated and irrelevant, dismissing this vital, evolving music would be akin to canning Sir Laurence Olivier from the Royal Shakespeare Company because he's getting on in years. I know, Olivier's dead, but you get my point. Gray hairs and laugh-lines may seem out-of-place onstage to some, but artists, like fine wines, can improve with age. Lucky for us, David Nelson still graces the stage, and with his music still finds new and relevant avenues to pursue. With the talented and experienced band he has assembled, Nelson seems well prepared to take his music and the spirit he helped create into the next century. |
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